


Take Two

by purple_pyro



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Someday, i need to write something shippy for the rarepair otp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 19:18:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2281518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_pyro/pseuds/purple_pyro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kid takes Crona on a trial mission to make sure nothing goes wrong. Things go wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Two

Stein rotated the screw in his head, paying more attention to the way the rapid clicks echoed through the death room than the argument in front of him. It was Maka's sixth time appealing to Lord Death, and it looked like it would be her sixth time failing.

"It's been two years! Why can't they go on their own?" The young scythe meister threw her hands in the air dramatically, nearly hitting Kid in the face. "Crona's more than capable of a solo mission, everybody knows it!"

The masked shinigami exhaled slowly. " _We_ know it. But not everybody is as sure of their allegiances as we are. Plus, Crona is not your typical meister. The black blood is a dangerous weapon that we still don't understand very well. Say, Maka, you were present during Medusa's death, correct?"

The blonde nodded quickly. "So were Soul, Marie, and Stein."

The trio all looked at the scientist, who was slightly miffed at being put on the spot. "Yes, and I treated Crona's wounds after the battle was finished. They are as loyal to Shibusen as any Spartoi member. Either way it's not as if they have anywhere else to go or anything else to do." Kid looked satisfied with the answer, though Maka grew pensive during the last sentence.

Lord Death bobbed a little. "You may not think I have faith in Crona, but I do. But surely you two are aware of many others' at the academy mistrust." Maka's shoulders dropped defeatedly and Kid looked to the side sadly. "Unless the rest of Shibusen can be convinced of their trustworthiness, I cannot allow Crona to take on any missions."

Stein could tell Maka wanted to protest but didn't have the words. Instead, Kid stepped forward. "Father, if I may, couldn't another possibility be sending them as part of a team of two?"

The elder shinigami's head tilted lopsidedly. "Hmmm. Do go on, Kid!"

He cleared his throat. "The first and only Shibusen-assigned mission Crona has been sent on was to the Dominican Republic. This was during their first trial as a Shibusen student and agent. They were assigned to escort Maka to investigate a case involving violent golems." The girl next to him nodded encouragingly and Kid continued. "This was discovered to be the witch Arachne's hiding spot while she was dormant for 800 years. Not only did Crona not hesitate to protect Maka when she was paralyzed, but fought back even when faced with a powerful rogue witch and a relative. If Crona hadn't been there to fend off Giriko until Justin's arrival, the mission would have been disastrous. So while it may be risky to send Crona by themself, there are many assignments suitable for teams of two. We can still put their skills to use without decreasing morale," Kid finished with a confident grin.

Lord Death looked as if he were thinking it over, and Stein wondered for the thousandth time over how one could be so expressive with a plain, white mask and a full-body black robe. "I think it could work! Kid, since it was your idea, you'll be responsible for taking Crona on their second trial mission." Both teens blanched before Maka turned to the pistol meister darkly and Kid's eyes widened in fear.

The older shinigami deflated a little. "That wasn't quite the expected response. Stein, did I do something wrong?"

The scientist looked up inquisitively. "No. You just took them by surprise."

"Huh. I swear, kids are getting stranger and stranger every generation."

"Indeed." Stein watched the two meisters amusedly, one now berating the other on the care and keeping of your local black-blooded witchling.

"Always keep hard candy on you, because it's the best way to shut up Ragnarok if he tries to pull something. Never give him more than three because he'll start getting greedy again. Don't be fooled by that tiny form because he can and will bully them. I swear Kid, you better not screw up because if Crona cries one tear I swear I'll-"

Kid braced his head for the threatened Maka-Chop. "No! I could never! I promise, you know that we're on good terms-"

"Good terms isn't gonna cut it! We're talking about someone who's been reaping souls since they were five but is terrified of escalators!"

Kid looked terrified himself. "I know I know I know! I fought them back when they were under Medusa's control too-"

"What does that have to do with anything!? And don't get me fucking started on Medusa!"

"Language, Maka," Stein commented dryly. "What would your dad think?"

"I'll yell at you later!" Maka hissed back before returning to Kid. "It's gonna be all on you to make sure Crona stays unharmed and uninjured-"

"Liz and Patty will be there too! And Crona is getting strong enough to take care of themself now-"

"Just because they've been doing better doesn't mean you can just abandon them-"

"I never said anything like that!"

Lord Death giggled childishly as the Maka threatened to do unspeakable things to his son if Crona didn't come home safe. "Stein?"

"Hmm?"

"This was a great idea."

\-----

The mission had gone perfectly.

Kid had been nervous giving the news that they would have to take a plane to India, but Crona handled everything at the airport fairly well and even managed to take a nap during the flight. They'd successfully navigated the noisy Bombay crowds and located the gang of kishin eggs easily. After a little bartering with a certain demon sword to make him stay quiet, the four students waited out the hours until nightfall at a market, even snagging dinner before it was time to work.

Now standing on the far edge of an overpopulated slum, Death the Kid smiled triumphantly at the 22 kishin souls floating around the four of them. The Thompson sisters were already gathering their share of ten each, while Ragnarok stretched to grab hold of the two he was entitled to (nobody had even bothered to hold a debate on whether or not Ragnarok should become a Death Scythe, as if it were even physically possible in the first place. Still, a demon weapon had to eat). Crona had done their part in the battle and didn't even have a bruise to show for it. They almost looked peaceful, holding a soul up for inspection just out of reach of their weapon's grabby hands. There wasn't enough blood on the scene to be chalked down to anything above a knife-fight, even if the gunshots were a giveaway. Even so, it was nearly the best possible scenario. Kid was about to congratulate the team on a job well done when they heard a voice. A child's voice.

"Daddy, there are monsters!"

The five froze, and at the unspoken command of "hide" they jumped up onto a tin roof soundlessly. Ragnarok returned to sword form without a word, and the Thompson sisters waited for the cue Kid was hesitant to give.

"Daddy follow me!"

"Anjali, get back here!"

Kid wished nothing more but for the child to be obedient. No luck. Soft footsteps approached from below and to the left, where a short, barefoot Indian girl stared at the scene before her. The "monsters" watched with trepidation as the child, Anjali, stood silently. Kid followed her gaze, which went past the blood-spattered shack walls and straight to the few remaining kishin souls they'd failed to grab.

The _seven_ remaining kishin souls they'd failed to grab.

Kid wanted to scream for so many reasons. 

He added more to the list when another two pairs of footsteps grew closer. A father and an even younger son soon caught up with the girl. Staring at the battle site, fear and worry turned to confusion and wonder. The boy plodded off to get closer and his dad had to pull him back by his collar. 

"Anjali, please don't run off. It's dangerous here." The man looked at a drying blood smear on the ground. Kid distinctly remembered it being the result of a narrow miss, and the kishin egg's shoulder wound had ground into the dirt when he hit the floor. "Wh-... What happened?" 

"I... I heard noises, Daddy. There were a lot of strange people talking about eating and I... I was hoping they'd share." Anjali looked tearful. "Then two people jumped out and... and! They started fighting but it was all wrong." 

Kid grimaced and Liz and Patty leaned forward. They couldn't transform without making noise. Crona was motionless, eyes fixed on the small family below them. 

The girl stepped closer to her dad, growing quieter. "The guns were talking! I heard it, I know it! And when the men d-died they... disappeared and turned into the red balls. It was so scary and... so I ran and..." 

Her father pulled her closer. "It's okay. You're safe now. But we need to leave before- Ranesh! Stop!" 

The boy stood a few meters away. He cradled a soul in his hands and was staring at it as if it hid the secrets of the world inside. Holding it by its wiggling tail, he lifted it higher like a lantern, almost like Soul did when he was about to eat one. Smiling, the boy opened his mouth wide- 

Crona made a pained noise, dropping Ragnarok with a clatter and jumping off the roof. Landing gracefully, they snatched the soul out of the boy's hands and clutched it protectively. "Don't eat these. They're dangerous," Crona warned desperately. 

Anjali shrieked. "Daddy! That was one of the monsters. She had a sword and.. and... she was killing the people!" 

Kid nearly dived off the roof, held back by Liz and Patty. Instead, Ragnarok liquefied, sliding off and down the shack they were hiding on top of and returning into Crona's body. The father yelled something in indian before returning to english. "Ranesh! Get back here, please! Anjali, run straight home." She shook her head, petrified in fear. The man charged forwards and grabbed his son by the wrist. "Demon!" he spat, charging out of the alley. 

They could still hear the boy's voice. "But Daddy! She is like me. Her body is cursed too!" 

Kid stopped struggling to get out of his weapons' grasps. It all made sense now. "Crona! He's a weapon! We have to take him back to Shibusen!" 

The black-blooded meister looked up at Kid, who leapt off the roof with pistols in hand. Crona nodded hesitantly, though their eyes revealed an odd emotion Kid decided he could figure out later. The pair sprinted after the family, catching up. 

They were headed further into the slums, where there would be more people and therefore more witnesses. Kid had to stop them here. He took a detour off to the right while Crona continued to chase the family down the dirt paths. Kid intercepted the trio at an T-intersection, trapping the family between the two meisters. The father panted, out of breath, herding his children behind him where they held each other fearfully. Now with a frontal view, Kid finally had a good look at the family. All had black hair and sallow faces. The father was tall but thin, dangerously so, as were both his kids. Anjali looked about nine with long, matted hair. Her brother could have been five. Their father hid them behind his legs, determined to protect his family, but was shaking in fear of the shinigami in front of him. It was then that Kid realized it would be difficult to convince someone you meant no harm while double wielding pistols. He tossed them up, cueing Liz and Patty to transform back into humans. 

"Try to comfort the kids. I'm gonna see if I can negotiate," Kid whispered. 

"Kid, convincing a parent to give up their child to armed strangers with demonic powers isn't gonna be that easy," Liz said flatly. 

He looked at her defeated. "We can't leave him here. You know that." 

"Hi guys! My name's Patty, what's yours?" The younger demon pistol smiled brightly, crouching in beside the children after somehow getting past their dad. 

The girl clutched her brother closer. "...I'm... I'm Anjali and he is Ranesh... are you... human?" 

Patty looked offended. "'Course I am. Yanno, you should apologize to Crona for calling them a monster. Words hurt, and they're a little sensitive." She pointed to the meister, who flinched at the sudden attention. 

The children turned to face them. "...Sorry miss. We didn't know there were other people like us," Anjali said guiltily. 

"Wait, 'like us'?" Kid peeked out from in front of the man. "Are more than one of you a demon wea- er, can transform into weapons?" 

The father looked less tense, but still tried to block Kid's and Liz's view of his children. "It seems the children trust you. Maybe I will have to also. My name is Varun Haryana, and... yes. My children are cursed." 

"You aren't cursed. Just rare. And we can show you a place where others like them have joined together to be safe," Liz offered. 

"No. We... the curse will grow stronger. More and more they lose control." By now Varun had completely dropped his guard. "Their arms, their bodies, they become knives. They say they cannot help it." 

"If they don't learn to control it, then they will continue to transform unconsciously," Kid said firmly. "Please come with us. They will go to school and eat regularly and have a house. You'll come too, just... trust us. We can help." 

Varun looked as if he were about to agree but then flinched. "No. You killed those men. You are murderers who promise the impossible." 

"They were evil!" Kid blurted out before realizing he had now volunteered himself to teach kishin souls 101. Liz glared at him and he looked away in shame. 

"Please. If you stay here you will only be in more danger. People will be scared of them, and try to hurt them or take them away," Liz said sadly, and Kid realized she was speaking from experience. "Cursed or not, your kids are special. But things will only get worse for them if you don't get help." 

The man looked over his shoulder, where Ranesh and Patty were talking animatedly. Crona had joined them, and was sitting down with Anjali in their lap and Ragnarok on their shoulder. With a sigh, he turned back to Liz and Kid. "I... How do I know I can trust you?" 

Kid smiled. "Do you have a mirror?" 

_\-----_

He didn't even protest when Maka's unabridged hardcopy of "Ulysses" caved in his skull. 

"Kid, just how thick are you!? Why didn't you intervene immediately?" the scythe meister yelled, undeterred by the fact that they were in the middle of a crowded hall and class began in three minutes. 

The shinigami rubbed his head and sat back up, the infamous Maka-Chop having effectively knocked him to the ground. "Nothing like that has happened before. I wanted to actually, but I would've made it worse if I'd just jumped down there too. Everything's under control now and we made a great discovery so I'd count it as a success-" 

"Kid. Stop and think for a moment," Maka deadpanned, and Kid straightened up. "A starving young child with powers they don't understand and don't want. Surrounded by blood and kishin souls. About to eat one. What does that remind you of?" 

"A really terrible visit to Bombay?" 

Maka looked ready to cry in rage. "Of Crona! Of how they lived before they came here!" 

Every trace of life dropped from Kid's face. God, he deserved more than a fractured cranium, how the fuck had he missed that!? He'd been so swept up in the situation he'd forgotten the reason he was there in the first place. He'd failed. Miserably, absolutely failed. "You're right! I'm trash, complete trash! I should just be expelled. I don't even deserve to look at Crona anymore! No, even think about them!" Kid wailed, recollapsed on the floor. 

Maka looked like she was about to agree when Tsubaki walked up to her. She gave a concerned look at the sobbing meister at her feet before turning to the one beside her. "Didn't Crona forgive him? And the Haryanas are settled in and doing fine." 

"Shh. I'm guilt-tripping him." 

**Author's Note:**

> Momma Maka is my favorite okay. I debated for a really, really long time over whether or not to split the family up but it didn't quite sit right just kidnapping a little boy. So I made the girl a weapon too and the dad a really honest type of guy. I'm such a sap sometimes.


End file.
